Golden Mile to Murder by Sally Spencer

the room, then said, ‘What I want you to do, Sergeant, is investigate Inspector Davies’ investigations.’
    It sounded better than brewing up, Paniatowski thought – but was it anything other than a way of keeping her away from the main thrust of the case?
    â€˜What do you hope to achieve from that, sir?’ she asked, trying to keep her voice level.
    â€˜Maybe nothin’,’ Woodend admitted. ‘But while I’m startin’ to think that Davies’ death is tied in with somethin’ on the Golden Mile, it’s just possible that the local lads are right, an’ it’s connected with one of his other cases.’
    â€˜If it’s just a
possibility
, why aren’t you letting the local men handle it and using me in the main inquiry?’ Paniatowski asked, the anger now clearly evident in her tone.
    Woodend sighed. ‘Blackpool Tower’s a bloody big buildin’, isn’t it?’ he asked.
    â€˜Yes, sir,’ Paniatowski agreed, mystified.
    â€˜We first spotted it when we were miles away. Yet once you get into the town itself, it’s an entirely different matter. You can be a few hundred yards away from it an’ yet you
can’t
see it, because you’re at street level an’ the other buildin’s are blockin’ your view. Do you see what I’m gettin’ at?’
    â€˜Sometimes you’re too close to a thing to see it properly,’ Paniatowski said.
    â€˜Exactly. I could put Sergeant Hanson on that side of the investigation, but he’d be on familiar territory, and
because
it was familiar, he might start takin’ things for granted that he shouldn’t be takin’ for granted at all. That’s why I’d rather use one of my own people.’
    One of his own people. Paniatowski ran the phrase through her mind. She didn’t feel like one of his people. If the truth be told, apart from the period she had worked under Mr Turner in Whitebridge, she had not felt like one of
anybody’s
people since she’d joined the police force.
    Sergeant Hanson sat at a table in Yates’s Wine Lodge, facing the other three local detectives. He let his gaze move from Brock to Stone, and from Stone to Eliot.
    â€˜What I’m about to say comes straight from Chief Inspector Turner,’ he told them. ‘Mr Woodend’s the senior officer on this case, which means that you’re working for him – but nothing goes to him without it passing through me first. Is that clear?’
    The three constables nodded.
    â€˜And whenever we have a brainstorming session with Cloggin’-it Charlie like we had earlier, you leave all the talking to me,’ Hanson continued.
    Eliot looked troubled. ‘But what if he asks one of us a direct question?’ he asked.
    â€˜Think of him like you’d think of an unfriendly brief asking you an awkward question in the witness box,’ Hanson advised. ‘Appear to be co-operating, but give as little away as possible.’
    â€˜I don’t want to do anything which will damage my career,’ Eliot said.
    â€˜Then you’ll play it the way I’ve told you to,’ Hanson countered. ‘Listen, whether he finds Billy’s killer or not, Mr Woodend will be gone in a few weeks. But Mr Turner won’t be. Get on the wrong side of him and you’ll be back directing traffic. And you’ll stay directing traffic for as long as you’re on the force.’ He sighed. ‘Look, we’re in a difficult situation here. We want to find Punch’s killer, right enough, but at the same time we want to protect the inspector’s reputation – and that of the force.’
    â€˜Maybe there’s no need to do that,’ Eliot said hopefully. ‘Maybe all the rumours floating around about him aren’t true. I don’t believe them, for one.’
    Hanson shook his head slowly – almost despairingly – from side to side.